Yelp us: 5 mobile food & drink apps we wish Beaumont used

While the neighbor’s phone book slowly decays on the porch beside my apartment, it occurs to me that local customers need more than just an address or phone number when choosing nightly entertainment.

More information provided by restaurants and bars means less guesswork, leading to a more enjoyable (and fiscally responsible) night out. Sometimes you want to peek into a menu, be enticed by specials, hear from regulars or cater to a specific desire or dietary restriction.

That’s where mobile applications come in.

Cites like New York City, San Diego and Austin are teeming with start-ups launching apps that make finding the perfect night out a few clicks away. The mobile space moves quickly and is always growing, which can make it difficult for restaurants and bars to choose the right apps for their target audience.

Here are five popular mobile apps that, if adapted by enough local bars and restaurants, would make Southeast Texas nightlife a bit more inviting.

While this isn’t the most comprehensive list of restaurant-focused apps and services, let it be the start of a conversation.

YelpIn short: A customer review site catering to any business, from dentists to hair dressers, mechanics to dog walkers, and, of course, bars and restaurants. Yelp is free for both users and businesses, though it does offer premium options.

Our pitch: While we’ve seen an increase in Yelp user reviews over the past three years, local businesses are failing to claim their sites, leading to a gap in information that could be costing you customers. Along with a missed opportunity to advertise specials (for free), you might be missing negative reviews that are scaring away customers.

Once you have claimed your business (as simple as filling out a form and answering your phone), you can respond to negative reviews to show potential customers your side to the story and maybe earn a second chance.

Negative reviews are, for the most part, outnumbered by positive tips. The more likely scenario is an incomplete listing. An incomplete or non-existent listing on Yelp is the modern day equivalent to an incorrect listing in the Yellow Pages. Local customers may know you, but the biggest audience you’re missing is out-of-towners. Beaumont is, after all, on prime I-10 real estate. Add that to the refineries that pull talented engineers from all over the world and you’ll find a pretty large untapped market.

UrbanSpoonIn short: This one’s more of an information aggregator than a crowd-sourced app. UrbanSpoon pulls reviews from experts like Zagats alongside full menu listings and dynamic search tools.

Our pitch: Help locals avoid the horrible guessing game that is “where should we eat tonight?” If your strength lies in expert reviews and an inventive menu, let UrbanSpoon prove to potential customers that their next night out should be at your restaurant.

Where Yelp shines by helping visitors discover local favorites, UrbanSpoon reminds locals that their favorite Italian restaurant still serves that margherita pizza they love. Their menu-peeking service is my favorite by far. When picking a local restaurant to patronize, I often combine Yelp and UrbanSpoon so I know what previous customers thought while getting a sneak peek at the menu.

Also notable, their dynamic spin search does more than make you feel like you’re playing a tasty game of Wheel of Fortune.

TabbedoutIn short: This app lets customers view and pay their tab right on their smartphone.

Our pitch: Keep customers happy by letting them control their tab. Added bonuses include bar-specific incentives like drink discounts and, most importantly: no waiting to tab out if you’re on a tight timeline.

On the business side of things, Tabbedout provides a robust offering of services to track customers and keep them happy. Even without the customer reports, think of a time your bar was packed. Would you rather have your bartender closing tabs or making drinks? That’s what I thought. The mandatory gratuity will also keep your servers happy, and happy servers make for successful bars.

Our pitch: Why have a drink special if you never tell anyone about it? The reason happy hour exists is to drive business during typical lulls. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen local businesses brag about their happy hours without ever divulging what they entail. Your customers are smart and know a good deal when they see one, so be specific.

I’ve seen happy hour apps come and go for many reasons, but the biggest one is lack of content. This is the best app by far when it comes to detail and searchability, and Happy Hours is taking a city-by-city approach in order to grow slowly. With content a top priority, I have high hopes that this may be the happy hour app that sticks.

I know we’ll have to wait awhile for Beaumont to cross their radar, but when it does reach our neck of the woods, I hope local businesses will take advantage of the opportunity to broadcast their specials in a forum with more visibility than a sheet of paper tacked up by the bar counter.

TapHunterIn short: Showcase your craft beer menu both on and offline, with searchable menus that you can also print and share with customers in your bar.

Our pitch: I love Major League Grill’s wall of taps, but without fail, every time I sit at a table and ask for the craft beer menu, the server hands me their own personal guide for me to decipher. MLG isn’t alone among local bars that offer craft beer but fail to have an updated beer menu handy. Since not everyone has the time and software necessary to build beautiful beer menus (especially since beers come and go quickly) Taphunter allows bars and restaurants to enter their menu of beer online, then creates a printable version to share in-house. Two birds, one app.

This app is great for craft beer drinkers who know the breweries, know the seasonals and eagerly await new arrivals in Beaumont.

Imagine a world where you don’t have to call 10 bars and liquor stores to determine which ones will carry Saint Arnold’s next Divine Reserve or Karbach’s limited releases.

All you have to do is search the beer, brewery or bar to find who carries that bottle you want.

Taphunter can also access your social media to announce that you’ve just added a new seasonal to your menu, an added bonus to bars still trying to figure out that whole Twitter business.